ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Women and Child Development
WCD Ministry and NITI AAYOG Examining Measures to Strengthen ICDS: Smriti Zubin Irani
The Union Minister of Women & Child Development  and Textiles,SmritiZubinIrani,said that Ministry of WCD, NITI Aayog and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare areexamining measures tostrengthen theIntegrated Child Development Services programme in order toensure that targeted children are benefitted. She reiterated that malnutrition is not restricted to women and children belonging to the poor strata of society, many children from affluent families living in urban areas are equally afflicted with malnutrition. She added that proper nutrition depends on selection of nutritious food for children, expectant mothers and lactating women. The WCD Minister informed that nutrition levelshaveimproved by 40% between 2006 and 2016.
The Minister of WCD was speaking at the inaugural session of Northern Regional Workshop on Best Practices and Innovations from POSHAN Abhiyaan in New Delhi last evening. SmritiZubinIrani,furtheradded that the Government is considering amendments to Prevention of Child Marriage Act to make reporting of cases of child marriages mandatory for the concerned agencies. Her remarks came in response to a question on the prevalence of large number of cases of pregnancies among married girls under 18 years of age. The number of cases of pregnancies in girls under 18 years is as high as 21%. Children born from child marriages are more prone to undernourishment.
Smriti Zubin Irani informed that 2.7 crore activities were undertaken by the Ministry of WCD, State Governments, Anganwadi workersduring the POSHAN Maah in September this year with 1.3 million ground level functionariesdealing with 85 million beneficiaries. The Minister added that Odisha was not part of POSHAN Abhiyaan in the beginning but has now come on board and West Bengal has adopted most of the elements of the programme. Tripura which had a huge gap in implementation of the nutrition programme two years ago has now made remarkable achievementsin nutrition informed the Minister.
CEO NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant, in his keynote address said that malnutrition is a big challenge and it has to be tackled successfully if India has togrow at the rate of 8-9 percent annually. He said POSHAN Abhiyaan cannot be run merely as a government programme. It has to be made a Jan Andolan by actively engaging Panchayati Raj institutions and self-help groups. Amitabh Kant observed that there is lack of convergence at the field level that can be addressed by capacity building, leveraging technology and real time monitoring of the schemes being implemented to tackle the problem of malnutrition.
Country Director, World Food Programme, BishowParajuli also addressed the workshop. The two-day event has been organized by the Ministry of WCD and Observer Research Foundation.
Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying
Department of Fisheries under PMMSY accord approvals to the proposals of 21 States/Union Territories for Livelihood and nutritional support for socio-economically backward active traditional fishers families
” during the last two financial years  and the current financial year  has accorded approvals to the proposals of 21 States/Union Territories for Livelihood and nutritional support for socio-economically backward active traditional fishers families for conservation of fisheries resources during fishing ban/lean period at a total cost of Rs.798.012 crore with central share of Rs.298.24 crore.
This information was given by Shri Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
Ministry of Defence
High Commissioner of Bangladesh honours 1971 War Veterans onboard BNS Somudra Avijan at Visakhapatnam
As part of Birth Centenary celebrations of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, His Excellency Mr Muhammad Imran, High Commissioner of Bangladesh honoured 10 Indian Naval War Veterans from across the country acknowledging their contribution in the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971 at a function hosted onboard BNS Somudra Avijan at Visakhapatnam on 05 Oct 21. Rear Adm Tarun Sobti, VSM, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet was the Chief Guest for the event which was attended by Rear Adm Jyotin Raina, NM, VSM CSO  and other senior officers of the ENC.
Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment
Union Minister Ramdas Athawale to write Prime Minister for Major Rehabilitation Package for Goa and other Cyclone Affected States
Minister appeals for Citizens' participation for effective containment of COVID19
Goa: May 22, 2021
Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale said that he would be writing to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to compensate all the states which are affected by the cyclone Tauktae. Damage is severe in Goa and Konkan, he said. Farmers should at least get the compensation of Rs. 50,000 per hectare, he said. Shri Athawale was speaking in a press conference at Vasco today.
The cyclone has caused major damage to the farmers, especially mango growers in the Goa and Konkan region of Maharashtra. In the state of Goa loss incurred by the Cyclone is approximately Rs. 140 crores, as assessed by state government agencies, Said Shri Athawale. Fishermen in Goa have also suffered huge losses. They need a special package, he said. Gujrat, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu these states were also affected severely by Cyclone, added the minister.
Speaking on COVID-19 Pandemic, Ramdas Athawale said that the central government is giving equal justice to all the states for vaccination. Every citizen will be vaccinated, he assured. Now the supply of Remdesivir has stabilised in the country. Lockdown in Goa, Maharashtra, Karnataka helped in reducing the number of daily cases and mortalities, Said Shri Athawale. Union Minister appealed for Citizen Participation to contain the spread of Coronavirus.
Shri Athawale was on a two-day tour of Maharashtra and Goa to assess the situation in the aftermath of Cyclone.
ST/VK/PM
Follow us on social media: @PIBMumbai /PIBMumbai /pibmumbai pibmumbai[at]gmail[dot]com
(Visitor Counter : 187
Ministry of Finance
Defence budget hiked to Rs. 3,05,296 crore
Rs. 3,05,296 crore have been provided in the Budget Estimates for 2019-20, compared to Rs. 2,82,733 crore provided in 2018-19 Budget Estimates. The figures were revised to Rs. 2,85,423 crore in the Revised Estimates of 2018-19. While presenting the Interim Budget 2019-20 in Parliament today the Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs, Railways and Coal Sh. Piyush Goyal said “Our Defence Budget will be crossing Rs.3,00,000 crore for the first time in 2019-20. For securing our borders and to maintain preparedness of the highest order, if necessary, additional funds would be provided.”
On the issue of strengthening Defence and National Security, the Interim Budget 2019-20 states that our soldiers protect our borders in tough conditions and they are our pride and honour. The Finance Minister Sh. Goyal said that due care has been taken of their honour. He said that the issue of One Rank One Pension  which was pending for the last forty years has been resolved. He said “The previous Governments announced it in three budgets but sanctioned a mere Rs.500 crore in 2014-15 Interim Budget; in contrast we have already disbursed over Rs.35,000 crore after implementing the Scheme in its' true spirit. The Government also announced substantial hike in the Military Service Pay  of all service personnel and special allowances given to Naval and Air Force personnel deployed in high risk duties.”
Ministry of Labour & Employment
Labour Reforms Bill
The Ministry has taken steps for drafting four Labour Codes on Wages; Industrial Relations; Social Security; and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions respectively, by simplifying, amalgamating and rationalizing the relevant provisions of the existing Central Labour Laws. The 4 Labour Codes contain provisions relating to wage, social security, safety, health and grievance redressal mechanism for workers. These initiatives are expected to provide wage security, social security, occupational safety and decent working conditions to the workers. However, there is no proposal at present to dismantle and merge of Employees’ State Insurance Corporation , Employees Provident Fund Organization  with other central schemes and privatization of social security fund.
The process of Legislative reforms on Labour includes consultation with stakeholders including Central Trade Unions, Employers’ Associations and State Governments in the form of tripartite consultation. Besides, the draft Labour Codes were also placed on website of the Ministry, seeking comments/suggestions from all stakeholders including general public. The draft legislations are finalised after considering comments/suggestions received from various stakeholders.
The proposed labour reforms initiatives will reduce the complexity in compliance due to multiplicity of labour laws and facilitate setting up of enterprises and thus creating the environment for development of business and industry in the country and generating employment opportunities without diluting basic aspects of safety, security and health of workers.
This information was provided by Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Union Minister of State  for Labour and Employment in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
Prime Minister's Office
PM strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Kabul
PM strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Kabul
(The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Kabul. The Prime Minister also expressed solidarity with the people and government of Afghanistan in their fight against terrorism.
“Strongly condemn the terrorist attack in Kabul. My heart goes out to the victim's families.
We stand in solidarity with people and government of Afghanistan in their fight against terrorism.” the Prime Minister said.
Ministry of Agriculture &
Farmers Welfare
Women in Agri-Startups
This Ministry has launched a component called “Innovation and Agri-Entrepreneurship Development” under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana  in 2018-19 with an objective to promote innovation and agri-entrepreneurship by providing financial support and nurturing the incubation ecosystem. This Ministry has appointed five Knowledge Partners  as Centres of Excellence and twenty four RKVY-RAFTAAR Agribusiness Incubators  from across the country for implementation this programme. So far, 173 women startups/ entrepreneurs have been supported under the “Innovation and Agri-Entrepreneurship Development” programme. Besides, the Indian Council of Agriculture Research  has been supporting Agri-based startups under the project called National Agriculture Innovation Fund  initiated in year 2016-2017. So far, 50 Agri-Business Incubation Centers  have been established and are operational in ICAR network under NAIF scheme. Potential women startups/ entrepreneurs can avail benefit from these programmes.
Success stories of progressive women farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs are publicized through electronic, print and social media and by organizing workshops etc. A webinar on “Women in Agri-startups: Creating Value with Supply Chain Management” was organized during Mahila Kisan Diwas 2021 on 22.10.2021. An e-book depicting success stories of 75 progressive women farmers and agripreneurs was also released during the event.
Anand Agricultural University, Anand, Gujarat has been appointed as R-ABI under “Innovation and Agri-Entrepreneurship Development” programme and ICAR-Directorate of Medicinal & Aromatic Plants Research, Anand and ICAR- Directorate of Groundnut Research , Junagarh have been set up as Agri-Busines Incubation  centers under National Agriculture Innovation Fund of ICAR to ensure that women farmers of Gujarat get the maximum benefit of agriculture startups.
This information was given by Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs
Cabinet approves continuation of Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi  beyond March 2022 till December 2024
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today has approved the continuation of lending under the Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi  beyond March 2022 till December 2024, with focus on enhanced collateral free affordable loan corpus, increased adoption of digital transactions and holistic socio-economic development of the Street Vendors and their families.
Through the Scheme, affordable collateral-free loans are being facilitated to the Street Vendors. The Scheme had envisaged to facilitate loans for an amount of Rs. 5,000 crore. Today’s approval has increased the loan amount to Rs. 8,100 crore, thereby providing the Street vendors working capital to further expand their business and making them AtmaNirbhar.
The budget for promotion of digital payments including cashback to the vendors has also been enhanced.
The approval is expected to benefit nearly 1.2 crore citizens of Urban India.
Under PM SVANidhi, significant achievements have already been made. As on April 25, 2022, 31.9 lakh loans have been sanctioned and 29.6 lakh loans amounting to Rs. 2,931 crore have been disbursed. As regards 2nd loan, 2.3 lakh loans have been sanctioned and 1.9 lakh loans amounting to Rs.385 crore have been disbursed. The beneficiary Street Vendors have conducted more than 13.5 crore digital transactions and have been given a cashback of Rs.10 crore. An amount of Rs.51 crore has been paid as Interest Subsidy.
The proposed extension of the Scheme has been necessitated as the circumstances that led to the launch of the Scheme in June 2020 i.e. the pandemic and related stress on the small businesses, have not fully retracted. The extension of lending till December 2024, would assist in institutionalizing the access to formal credit channels, provide an assured source of credit to help them plan their business expansion, increasing the adoption of digital transactions, reducing the impact of potential NPAs on the Lending Institutions and providing holistic socio-economic upliftment for the Street Vendors and their families.
Ministry of Defence
INDO-OMAN Joint Ex Al Nagah 2019
Indo Oman Joint Exercise Al Nagah III 2019, a joint military exercise between Indian and Royal Army of Oman , commenced this morning at HQ Jabel Regiment, Nizwa, Oman with a brief but impressive opening ceremony that saw the unfurling of the national flags of both countries with Omani and Indian soldiers standing side by side signifying the growing cooperation, synergy and understanding between both the countries.
The Omani contingent was represented by Jabel Regiment of the RAO while the Indian side was represented by troops of Tenth Battalion The Garhwal Rifles Regiment. Lt Col Muhammed Al Saidi, Second - in- Command, Jabel Regiment welcomed the Indian soldiers, and in his inaugural remarks highlighted the common shared beliefs of freedom, equality and justice that are precious to both nations. The magnificent opening ceremony conducted today started with briefing on Army Organization and Country Presentation by both countries.
The Indian Army and RAO contingents have been specifically selected for the exercise based on expertise and professional competence and will take part in the two-week-long event that will see them hone their tactical and technical skills in joint counter insurgency and counter terrorist operations in semi-urban scenario in mountainous terrain under UN mandate. Due emphasis will be laid on increasing interoperability between forces from both countries which is crucial for success of any joint operation. Both sides will jointly train, plan and execute a series of well-developed tactical drills for neutralization of likely threats that may be encountered in such a scenario. Experts from both sides will also hold detailed discussions to share their experience on varied topics for mutual benefit. Ex Al Nagah 2019 will contribute immensely in developing mutual understanding and respect for each other’s military as also facilitate in tackling the worldwide phenomenon of terrorism.
Lt Col Mohit Vaishnava
for PRO 
(Visitor Counter : 3445
Prime Minister's Office
PM greets people on National Voters' Day
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has greeted the people on National Voters' Day today.
In a tweet, the Prime Minister said;
"Greetings on National Voters’ Day. Inspired by this year’s theme of ‘Nothing Like Voting, I Vote For Sure’, may we all work together to further strengthen active participation in elections and strengthen our democracy. I also laud ECI for their efforts in this area."
Ministry of Rural Development
Average completion time for houses under restructured Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin comes down to 114 days; 1.10 crore houses completed which includes houses to 1.46 lakh landless beneficiaries
Target of construction of 2.95 crore houses under PMAY-G expected to be achieved by March 2022
Total 182 lakh houses constructed under Indira Awas Yojana since 2014
To achieve the objective of “Housing for all by the year 2022”, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched the restructured rural housing scheme, namely Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin  on 20th November, 2016 with the target of construction of 2.95 crore houses with all basic amenities by the year 2022.
The selection of beneficiaries through a three stage validation  has ensured selection of the poorest of the poor under PMAY-G. The department took various measures including IT/DBT to ensure smooth flow of fund to the beneficiaries account, use of new housing designs after studying local region specific typologies, evidence based monitoring through geo-tagged photos taken at all pre-determined stages of construction, transaction based MIS, adequate provision of fund, training of rural masons etc., for timely completion of houses.
All these measures ensured increased pace for construction of houses resulting in completion of 1.10 crore houses which includes houses to 1.46 lakh landless beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin . The increased pace of work has been reflected in the NIPFP study which indicated 114 days as average completion time for Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin  as compared to 314 days earlier. The Ministry of Rural Development has also completed construction of around 72 lakh houses under Indira Awas Yojana totalling construction of 182 lakh houses since 2014.
PMAY-G also addresses the basic needs of households through convergence with various government programmes. The poor not only get a home but also get up to 90-95 days of work under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme . Their homes are also provided electricity connection under the existing Ministry of Power schemes and LPG connection under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Scheme besides the households’ toilet under Swachh Bharat Mission / MGNREGS and tap connection under Jal Jeeval Mission. Efforts have also been made to provide livelihood development and diversification opportunities to 1.82 crore rural households, under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission .
With partnership with the States, the Ministry of Rural Development is confident that with a large number of houses under different stages of completion and increased pace of completion of houses, it would be able to achieve the target of construction of 2.95 crore houses under PMAY-G by March, 2022.
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
CBI ARRESTS AN ACCUSED & HIS ASSOCIATE IN AN ON-GOING INVESTIGATION OF A CASE
The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested an accused  and his Associate  in an on-going investigation of a case registered under Section 3 of Official Secret Act r/w Section 120-B of Indian Penal Code.
CBI registered the said case on 09.12.2022 against an accused on the allegations that accused was involved in the illegal collection of sensitive information including the minute details of the DRDO defence projects & their progress, sensitive details about the future procurement of Indian armed forces which reveal the strategic preparedness of country’s classified communications/ information relating to national security, details of the strategic & diplomatic talks of India with our friendly countries and sharing such classified information with intelligence agencies of foreign countries.
Searches were conducted around at 15 locations, in NCR & at Jaipur. CBI has seized 48 electronic devices including laptops, tablets, mobile phones hard disks & pen drive etc. belonging to the FIR named accused and others associated with the said accused, during searches. Besides, a number of incriminating documents relating to Indian defence establishments, have also been seized. The data stored in cloud based accounts / emails / social media accounts belonging to the accused / others have also been recovered by digital forensic experts of CBI. It was also alleged that the accused and his associate , were in possession of classified secret document related to Indian defence establishments.
The scrutiny of devices recovered so far from the possession of accused also revealed that the accused was allegedly collecting confidential information related to India’s Defence procurement from different sources and was in contact with several foreign Entities / Agents / Persons, and that he had entered into contracts / agreements with several foreign entities for sharing of confidential information. It was also alleged that the accused and his family members had received substantial amount from foreign sources. Both the arrested accused will be produced today before the Competent Court at Delhi.
(
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
SAI sanctions Rs 1.28 Crore for participation of 30 Wrestlers at Sr. Asian Championship in Mongolia
Tokyo Olympian Anshu Malik is looking forward to the Senior Asian Championships in Mongolia, starting April 19, as a much-needed exposure competition ahead of Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. A total of 20 wrestlers from the men’s team across the Freestyle and Greco-Roman categories and ten from the women’s team will compete at the event.
The tour has been sanctioned at cost to the Government to the of an overall of Rs 1.28 Crore for both teams. The competition in Mongolia is seen as a good exposure competition ahead of the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games, scheduled later this year. Tokyo 2020 medalists Ravi Dahiya and Bajrang Punia, among others, will also be competing in Mongolia.
“I have been a part of various international camps and I’m happy to get all these world-class facilities at the SAI national centre of excellence on Lucknow,” said Anshu. “I thank the Wrestling Federation of India too for setting up the camp here ahead of the Sr. Asian Championship and the CWG and Asian Games this year.
“Me and my teammates are looking forward to the best of performance from the upcoming tournaments,” added Anshu.
While the women’s team has been a part of the SAI Lucknow training centre, the men’s wrestlers have been a part of the SAI regional centre Sonepat ahead of the Sr Asian Championship.
List of participants:
Men’s team: Freestyle – Ravi Dahiya, Mangal Kadiyan, Bajrang Punia, Naveen, Yash, Gourav Baliyan, Deepak Punia, Viky, Satyawart Kadiyan, Anirudh Kumar; Greco-Roman – Arjun Halakurki, Gyanender, Neeraj, Sachin Sehrawat, Vikas, Sajan, Harpreet Singh, Sunil Kumar, Ravi, Prem.
Women’s team: Manisha, Swati Shinde, Sushma Shokeen, Anshu Malik, Sarita Mor, Manisha, Radhika, Sonika Hooda, Nikki, Sudesh.